What kind of parents take their 3 year-old to a movie?

Yup, we did it. After a bit of consternation, we decided to take Hudson to see the movie "Cars." We were originally planning to have him see it on video, but ended up deciding that taking him to a theater would make it seem more "set apart" so he'd be less likely to want to see more TV/movies at home. Can you tell he's our first child with all the thought we put into a rather simple decision?

He loved it. He jumped a few times at the loud revving of the engines, but never got scared at all. It was a pretty long movie - about 2 hours and he shifted positions a lot, so we couldn't tell if he was just a being a boy or if he was getting a little tired of it. But when the credits rolled (with some animation re-starting on the side) we asked if he wanted to leave. He said, "Let's wait until the pictures go off and don't come back on."

He's been (we've made him) a victim of the Disney marketing machine. He has a "Cars" coloring book, a "Cars" sticker book, and a few plastic "Cars" figures. So he knew the main characters names before the movie. By the way, it's a cute movie that's fun for any age (apparently down to three).

Landon is still having a lot of fun running around. He's starting to fight back when Hudson takes things with which he's playing - and he's got a pretty accurate slap! He's definitely a second-born: much more adventurous, much more stubborn, not as into precision and detail and more into fun. He is really creating his own identity more and more every day.

Kathryn and Rick are doing well. Rick sprained his ankle playing basketball this week but it doesn't seem all that bad, just pretty swollen.

Thanks for the comments and updates!

Funny Hudson quote:

"Oh no; it dropped the call!"
Said while talking to a pretend person on a pretend call on his pretend Spiderman cell phone.

Is it officially summer already?

Hi everyone. It's seemed like summer here longer than just this week. Everyone is healthy here and we're putting up with the heat well. Work has been reasonable for Rick; Kathryn is doing well and her Tuesday morning Bible studies have started back up. Hudson is still having fun with his cars. Kathryn went to pick him up at the gym childcare center and found all the workers gathered around him being entertained by him identifying all the cars. Landon is toddling around everywhere now and has become a climber. The gym staff told Kathryn that he was but she hadn't really seen evidence of it. That day, though, she took the boys to the library and after getting some books with Hudson found him standing on top of one of the tables.

Smart Hudson Quote:

"It's an amphibious truck."

Hudson explaining why it was OK when he was told that his story shouldn't have the trash truck drive into the water.

June is Here

Hello all. Things are going well here in the Valley of the Sun. Monsoon season officially has arrived. For those of you that don't know, we actually get a fair amount of rain in the heat of the summer. We get monsoons with a lot of wind in the evenings and get a little bit of rain sometimes and downpours others. We also get a lot of lightning and thunder. So far we've had just wind with a little bit of rain and lightning the past few nights. We all pray for more rain than lightning to limit the fire hazard.

The boys are doing well. Landon is now going from sitting to standing and walking by himself - and I might add is very proud of doing so. Hudson continues with his car and truck obsession. Today he guessed that the worker who came to patch a seam in our countertop had driven a white Ford pickup - a good guess based on sales figures - and he was correct.

Kathryn is back in Tuesday morning Bible study after a couple of months off. She's enjoying her group of Moms at her table and the teaching.

Rick had last week off of work and did his honey-do list around the house: fixing some irrigation lines, replanting some lost landscape, cleaning hard water spots off the pool water feature, and cleaning out the garage. He also got a chance to play with the boys a lot and went golfing twice.

Funny Hudson Quote of the Week:

"You can do the underwater parts with Landon."

Said to his daddy while they and Landon were in the pool and were about to do swim lessons. He regularly lobbies to leave out the parts of the swim lessons where he goes underwater.

Smart Hudson Quotes of the week:

"What did the pastor say about the car and it's gasoline?"

Hudson to his mommy on the way home from church. He's been coming to big church with us and seems to be doing his own thing (coloring, driving his cars on the pew) most of the time, but it's clear that he's taking it all in. Pastor Darryl had used an illustration of us following God's word as being like a car running on gasoline, and when we don't, like a car running on corn oil.

"No, that's just some adhesive from one of my old stickers."

Hudson to his mommy after she questioned whether the small, round, gray, sticky object on his finger represented a booger. She didn't even knew he knew what 'adhesive' was.

It's heating up in AZ

Hi all. Well we've reached triple digits in Arizona. We're ready for a few months of air conditioning. The evenings are still beautiful, with the temperatures in the 70's-80's (which feels pretty cool with a humidity of 15%). Our family is doing well.

Thank you all for posting comments on the blog - it's fun to get your comments and updates!!

We've dealt with two cases of "pink eye" over the past couple of weeks. Hudson was first and it cleared up pretty quickly but Landon got it a week or so later. He's a challenge to get eye drops into sometimes!

Hudson has been funny lately - he's taken to using a lot of figures of speech. So a lot of his sentences recently have begun with "Speaking of which,..."

Landon is still as smiley as ever. He's toddling longer distances but we still think he's too lazy to not crawl.

Funny Hudson Quote of the Week:
"No, tell Grandma's version of it!"
After requesting Rick to tell him the story of the three pigs and the wolf and the story being told, he requested Grandma's version which as it turns out has the three pigs escaping to a motorhome at the end that the wolf couldn't blow down.

Happy May

All is well with us. Here's the update:

Last night Kathryn hosted her Bunco group at our home. It's a group of women from our church who get together once a month to play Bunco as an excuse to talk and eat sweets. About 34 women converged on our house and a good time was had by all. The boys cleared out of the house and went to the library and dinner at Red Robin. They had fun.

Hudson continues to enjoy having two arms without casts. He's been doing really well with using the bathroom and we seem to have now conquered #2 as well as #1. Landon continues to prefer crawling to walking. He's really cute toddling but doesn't show it to us enough. While Hudson enjoys annoying him, he's also very protective of his brother. He hovers over him any time he's within 20 feet of the street or pool.

Funny Hudson quote of the week:

"Nothing...we just sat around and stared at the walls."His response to Rick asking upon arriving home from work, "What did you, Landon, and Mommy do today?" He said it with a mischievious smirk, knowing he was cracking a joke.

Smart Hudson quote of the week:
"Was Adolf Hitler a bad man who tried to take over other countries?"
Asked on Wednesday night at Red Robin. Last Saturday he had asked to hear stories and Rick had told him about the Revolutionary War, World War II, the Berlin wall, and a few others.

We've halved our diaper costs!

Hi all. Well, as you may have surmised from the title of this post, Hudson is now potty trained. If you don't care about a potty training story, skip to the next paragraph! Some of you know that we tried about 6 months ago and he got the "hold it" part but not the "let it go" part; he held his urine for 18 hours straight. It took us until now to be brave enough to give it another try (also delayed by the broken arm). On Saturday we had him sit on the potty chair with a diaper on to practice letting it go. By Sunday morning he started going without diapers and hasn't gone back. He had one accident in bed one night but that has been the only time in four days.

Hudson's arm is really working normally now. He was pretty stiff for a few days but is now back to normal. Landon continues to walk more and more also.

Work has been pretty busy for Rick. It's caused a few nights of not getting home by bedtime over the past couple of weeks. Things usually get more reasonable around this time of year, though so we hope that will get better.

Funny Hudson Quote:

"How you like them apples!"
Hudson to Daddy (unprompted) in the garage after he and Mommy beat Daddy home from the library.

No more cast!!

Well, the era of the cast is over. Hudson was able to get his cast off today and is doing fine. His arm (especially elbow) is pretty stiff and his muscles are fairly atrophied but all is well. The bone is healing great. He should be good as new in no time.

Also, Landon seems to be walking! He has been taking a few steps at a time today but it seems to be the real deal now.

It was a pretty big day around here. Daddy and Hudson slept in a tent in the backyard last night. Other than needing some extra clothes and blankets at 3AM (Daddy was the cold whimp, not the boy) it was a great, fun night. Rick awoke to loud birds and Hudson saying, "Those birds sound happy!" Then Mommy took the boys to the railroad park and fun was had by all. Then Hudson got his cast off - both boys cried while the cast saw was cutting it off. Finally, Mommy took the boys to the mall tonight. They got to play and have a fun dinner there.

We love you all.

Lots of Events

Hi everyone. Sorry about the long time between posts but hopefully this update will help you to understand why.

Two weeks ago, Kathryn and Rick were out of town while Papa and Grandma watched the boys. Rick had two meetings in a row. First we went to Tucson to the La Paloma Resort on Monday. Kathryn spent time by the pool while Rick was in meetings but both of us took some R&R time one morning with Rick on the golf course and Kathryn at a half-day spa package.

Wednesday night we drove home and saw the boys but Thursday morning we were off to fly to San Diego. Kathryn enjoyed the shopping and pool while Rick was in meetings and we saw a movie together and went out to dinner every night. We returned home Sunday afternoon.

The following week was a real adventure. On Tuesday, Landon got sick. He threw up most of the day but was a little better by Tuesday night and seemed to be over it by Wednesday. Wednesday, it was Hudson's turn. He threw up most of the day but seemed to settle down by bedtime. Unfortunately, by Thursday mid-day he was back to throwing up. It continued through the night and that same night Rick and Kathryn got sick. Hudson threw up all night and Rick was also throwing up while Kathryn was keeping it down by staying as still as possible. It was quite a night. By Friday morning, Hudson was really dehydrated. We took him to the pediatrician and they admitted him to the hospital for IV fluids. Rick was still sick and had to do seven operations. As soon as Hudson got some fluids into him, he stopped vomiting immediately. He spent a day at the hospital and was good as new. He really charmed the nurses. Several of them bought him cars and one spent nearly an hour reading books to him.

Finally, last week, Rick was traveling again to a meeting in Baltimore. Kathryn and the boys stayed home except Hudson went to stay with Papa and Grandma Friday and Saturday nights. Rick returned Saturday night and we got together Sunday. Papa and Grandma left for Michigan via Colorado on Monday morning. Hudson was really sad to see them go, as were the rest of us.

Funny Hudson quotes:

"Wait just a cotton-pickin' minute."
To Grandma (he picked up this phrase from her) as she moved a little too quickly past the hotwheels car display in a store.

"We had to pull over into the parking lot of the place where you and Mommy got married."
Explaining to Rick where Kathryn pulled over when Landon got sick. Kathryn had pointed out the Chapel where we got married to him more than six months prior.

More Snow Pictures

Some pictures of the snow-capped McDowell Mountains from our backyard

Snowy Arizona

Hi all. We awoke last Saturday morning to snow! We didn't have any on the ground at our house but the mountains were snow capped all around us and some areas in the mountains got as much as 4 feet of snow in 24 hours. We'll post more pictures soon.

Karen, Elizabeth, and Jonathon were visiting for a warm Spring break but ended up throwing snowballs instead. Elizabeth spent the night last night. Some funny Hudson quotes from her stay:

Elizabeth: "Let's play fairy princess; and you can be a fairy prince!"
Hudson: "No, let's be cars instead!"

Elizabeth told Hudson about losing teeth.
Hudson: "I have a book about a bunny who loses a tooth and he put it under his pillow and his parents put a dime there for him."
Elizabeth: "Maybe it was the tooth fairy that left the dime."
Husdon: "No, it was his parents."

Our Big "Break"

Sorry about the delay between posts. We've had an "interesting" week or two. The big event happened last Sunday night - Hudson was swinging and telling grandma a story when he decided he needed both hands to explain it which lead to him falling off to the side. Long story short, he broke his forearm.

He's been a real trooper - he never so much as took tylenol and didn't seem to slow down at all. He was in a splint and a sling for three days and then picked out his bright green cast on Wednesday. He'll be wearing his long arm cast (shoulder to knuckles) for about three weeks and if his x-rays look OK, then a short arm cast (elbow to knuckles) for another three weeks. He acts like nothing's happened except now when he colors he makes his mom hold the coloring book for him.

He really charmed the folks in the pediatric Emergency Department from questioning whether it was his ulna or radius that was broken (his radius) to telling the story of what happened in flamboyant detail ("What happened to you, Hudson?" "Well, Grandma was sweeping up rabbit doo-doo...") to dialoging with the cast tech about what forms the vapor trails behind jets (condensation forming on the plane).

Funny Hudson quote:

He had a piece of thumbnail peeling off that he asked Kathryn to come in to help get rid of after he was in bed. Kathryn wiped it with the lights off but, as it turned out, it didn't come off. A few minutes later, he wandered out of his bedroom and said, "My thumb still has a thing on it." Kathryn said, "O.K., pal, come on over and I'll get it." As he passed by her he said:

"No, Daddy's a surgeon, he can fix it."

Our Third week of February

Hi everyone. We've had an interesting week. It started well with a visit from Uncle Ben and Aunt Gail. It was nice to have them here from California and of course they're two of Hudson's favorite people as the source of all his Pepsi cars and trucks. Kathryn has been sick with a cold that seems to be dragging on. Grandma and Papa have taken Hudson to the motorhome for the night and day to provide some relief for her. Somehow I think he may get to stay up late, read some extra books, and generally get away with anything. We love you all.

Happy Birthday Landon!

The big event this week was Landon's 1st birthday. We had a party at Eatza Pizza with our family, Aunt Kerry, Papa and Grandma, and DD and Ducky. Landon enjoyed his pizza - he has totally given up baby food and loves pizza. He also dug into the cake like crazy. We had a really good time. He got a hat, a xylophone, a swing seat, and a trash truck (guess who gave him that one!).

Everything else is well. The pool PVC pipe is fixed and the boys love their swingset. They also have a new pastime of firetruck races (induced by Grandma) as you can see in the picture here with their matching pajamas.

We love you all!

This week's posting

PHOTO: Landon with his severe bed-head

Hi everyone. All is well with the Gray's. We've had a good week. The big events of the last week:

The Swingset: We ordered a swingset for the boys from Walmart. Not just a swingset of course, we had to go whole hog and get the one with a fort, rock wall, cargo net, slide, picnic bench, and sand box. We thought we were getting a swingset but what we got was 113 pieces of lumber, 30 other parts, and more than 700 pieces of hardware! After about 15 hours of assembly, Rick was feeling pretty good about how it had gone and did the last step of staking it down to the yard. A little while later we turned on the waterfall in our pool and and we had a waterfall coming out of the lawn at one of the stakes! Oh boy...It turns out it just requires a little repair of some PVC pipe but it was still quite a letdown at a moment of triumph.

The Party: We had a Superbowl party for our Sunday school class. We ended up with about 40 people and had a great time. Papa and Grandma and DeDe and Ducky helped with the boys during it.

The boys are doing well. Landon is working on his walking but he's not quite there yet. Hudson is still in motion and smart as a whip.

We hope you're all doing well and we love you.

Funny Hudson Quote of the week:

While brushing his teeth one night this week:

Hudson: "Mommy, instead of me going to the dentist, I think we should have a toothbrush truck come to our house."

Is it February already?

2006 is already flying by it seems. The Grays are doing well. We're enjoying the Arizona winter. We are gearing up for our annual Superbowl party for our young marrieds Sunday School class. We are planning to have about 50 people at our house so it will be quite a madhouse!

Rick and Kathryn are doing well. We bought a swingset and have been working on the "some assembly required" aspect. So far about 8 hours of "some assembly" has been done and we're about half way there or so. Hudson is pretty excited about it, though. Landon is becoming quite a chatterbox and seems to be saying "mama" these days.

Funny Hudson quote of the week:

(Background: Hudson has been feeling like he's missing out on some action after he goes to bed and we've been finding him out of bed at his door listening to what's going on. We've been trying to break him of it, but he keeps coming up with new and better excuses and reasons to get us to come back to his room. He's ususally said he has a question he needs answered when told to go back to bed.)

Rick: Hudson, get back into your bed.
Hudson: I have a question I need answered.
Rick: No questions after bed-time, head back in.
Hudson: But I need another kiss first because when I rolled over your kiss fell off!

This week at the Gray Houshold

Hi everyone. This week was a good one. Our family had routine days and nights and we have come to appreciate the joy and blessing of the "norm." Pappa and Grandma Gray had their motorhome in the shop for a few days and they stayed with us. The boys had a ball with them and were crushed when they were ready to leave. Rick and Kathryn took advantage of the built-in baby-sitters and went out a few times including seeing the Chronicals of Narnia movie. A fine movie that we wholeheartedly recommend.

Last week, Papa and Grandma took Hudson to stay with them at the motorhome. We were a little worried that we'd be driving down there to pick him up in the middle of the night. What we really should have worried about is him being willing to come home! He had a ball and cried about coming home. I think part of the draw to the motorhome had a little bit to do with all the popcorn he talked about. He seems to have adjusted back to his tough existence with a playroom full of toys, a car bed, and doting parents.

Funny Hudson quote of the week (a tattle-tale):

At dinner, out of the blue: "When I went with Papa and Grandma back to the motorhome, Papa drove past the motorhome and missed it and we had to turn around and go back..." Can't keep any mistakes secret with him around!

A few more Barrett-Jackson Pictures

Barrett-Jackson Car Auction and Show

This past Sunday, we took the boys to the Barrett-Jackson Car Show. We had a good time and saw a lot of fun cars. Hudson was of course in hog heaven.

Sunday night, Hudson went to spend the night at Papa and Grandma's motor home. The plan was to have him spend the day Monday and then depending on how well he did, maybe also spend Monday night. Well, as it turned out, we had to pry him out of the park to get him home on Tuesday afternoon. He had a blast and of course was spoiled royally by Papa and Grandma. What great memories to build.

Lot's of new stuff

Sorry about the long break. We're planning to add a new post once per week now - on Wednesdays most likely. Sorry if you've been checking without any recent updates.

Since we're 3 weeks behind, we'll try to make up for lost time...

We dedicated Landon two Sunday's ago. Both sets of Grandparents we're able to be there and it was terrific.

Merry Christmas

Merry Christmas everyone. We had a terrific Christmas. Rick was on call but was able to be home all day. Kathryn's sister, Kerry was also able to join us. For Hudson, the hotwheels carwash and the garbage truck were the two gifts that caught his attention the longest. The remote control Mini Cooper was right up there also. We hope you all had a blessed day.